The latest opportunity presented itself when a small Apple reseller in Key West put their business up for sale.

Mayer said while Small Dog’s home base will always remain in New England, the chance to acquire the Key West store was too good to pass up.

Mayer is in the process of converting the store to look like other Small Dog stores.

“There’s a lot of tourist traffic there from cruise boats and stuff so we may have slightly different selection of products that cater to that audience,” he said, “but in general it’s going to be Apple products and accessories to go along with Apple products as well as iPhone and iPhone accessories.

Mayer said the Key West store is the only Apple specialist store within 100 miles. He said the closest store is Miami.

Apple has its own company-owned stores. Then there are 160 independent Apple resellers or specialists around the country, including Small Dog, that are authorized by Apple to sell and service its products and accessories.

The Small Dog store on West Street has been open only a few months but Mayer said he’s pleased with the results to date.

“We’re very excited about Rutland because it serves as a model for us for other potential smaller stores in smaller communities,” Mayer said, “which I feel is the direction we’re going to have to take because Apple itself will go to the larger markets.”

With the Key West acquisition, Small Dog now has five stores: Waitsfield, South Burlington, Rutland and Manchester, N.H.